Staff Training

The Parent-Child Home Program requires that all site coordinators complete 3 days of an Initial Training Institute before implementing the program. This Training Institute is offered by training staff from the National Center, or designated regional representatives, and is scheduled according to demand. Only site coordinators and other staff employed by an agency or school that has signed a Replication Agreement with the PCHP National Center may attend. The next scheduled Training Institutes will take place on:

September 12-14, 2018 at the PCHP National Center

October 16-18, 2018 at the PCHP National Center

Staff trainings are open to new PCHP Coordinators at both new PCHP sites and existing sites. Registration required. Please contact Michele Morrison at mmorrison@parent-child.org for further information and registration form.

All new Site Coordinators are also required to complete their certification by attending a Follow-Up Training within a year of program implementation. The Follow-Up Training is offered in conjunction with the PCHP Annual Conference.

Generocity, 8/8/18 Home visits from education experts are improving outcomes for Philly kids in poverty

12/23/2016

The benefits of a home visiting program in Ameesha Jackson’s North Philadelphia home were unexpected.

For her, it was watching her Parent-Child Home Program (PCHP) rep’s lessons and educational materials bring her whole family closer together. For her 3-year-old son Amari, it was finding a new favorite game: shapes and colors bingo.

“I think this program is helping [Amari] keep up with his brothers,” said Jackson, who has two other sons, Jayden, 8, and Mason, 5. “His brothers are already in school. They’re already engaging with other children.”

Home visiting programs are an effective way to introduce books and other learning tools to low-income Philadelphia children before they enter pre-K, said Malkia Singleton Ofori-Agyekum, the Pennsylvania program director for PCHP.

On a home visit, a service provider visits an expecting mother or a parent and young child in their home to discuss maternal health, early childhood development and parent coaching. According to a report by the National Home Visiting Resource Center, these programs can improve infant health, parent-child relationships and early childhood education.

All 35 home visiting programs in the Greater Philadelphia area serve low-income families, according to the United Way report; nationally, 74 percent of the 301,154 families served by evidence-based home visiting programs in 2016 reported an income below the federal poverty guidelines, which is about $19,000 for a family of three.

Proficient reading skills in third grade is the most important predictor of high school graduation, which about 80 percent of children living below the poverty line fail to meet, according to a report by the American Academy of Pediatrics: Low-income children have “have fewer literacy resources within the home, are less likely to be read to regularly … all resulting in a significant learning disadvantage, even before they have access to early preschool interventions.”

“When people are in poverty, they’re surviving,” Ofori-Agyekum said. “They’re trying to figure out where’s food coming from, how we’re not going to put on the street. You’re not always thinking about, ‘Oh, I need to be talking to my child, reading to my child to make sure they have enough language and education skills.’”